Before deciding if I should attend this University
of Tampere, I investigated other universities in Germany, Denmark and
Sweden. For me, Tampere had the best selection of courses offered in the
english language. Once I had chosen Tampere as a possible destination,
I flew to Finland to see it for myself. As a business student, I felt that
I could not accurately assess the school unless I saw it for myself. Since
the exchange program with York was new and no other students had had the
opportunity to go there, I wanted to be sure that I would be comfortable
studying in a place I knew very little about, for a whole year of my life.

I arrived in Finland in the first week of January. This is probably
the coldest and darkest part of the year. It really wasn’t all that bad.
The temperature was at about -5 C to -10 C during the winter and the days
had about 5 hours of light. The snow reflects ambient light, so that even
when it is dark, it is light enough.

I met with Maija Rokman of the Business School when I arrived. She spent
the day with me showing me the layout of the campus, introducing me to
other staff members, bought me lunch and finally matched me up with a Finnish
student to get an orientation of the town. If I wasn’t so impressed with
what I saw, I would have chosen another university. I really think I made
the right decision.

During the fall, the weather was really pleasant. The temperature in
September was about 12 to 15 C and in October 4 to 12 F. I think there
was frost on the ground once. Because of the vast amount of nature on the
doorstep of Tampere, I have taken the opportunity to go hiking in the woods
several times. You can take a city bus to the edge of town and then just
start walking along hundreds of kilometers of trails.

Although my exchange was with the History department, I also took courses
in the Business School, Language Centre, Social Sciences Department, Computer
Science, and North American Studies. All of these departments offer courses
taught in the English language. The format of the university is completely
open so that you can choose whatever interests you and what what you need
to complete the requirements of your degree. (I noticed that for some international
students, the open format can also be a problem because there is no requirement
to do a minimum amount of work.)

Most of the course have a set of lectures, maybe an assignment or exercises
and then a final examination. Exams are written on scheduled departmental
examination days, and if you have difficulty, or are not fully prepared
to write on that day, then there is a second chance (usually scheduled
a couple of weeks later.) I have found the professor to be very well informed
and generally present very interesting lectures. There is also an alternative
way to study. They call this method book exams, where a student will be
required to read a couple of books, and then write an exam for the credits.

One of the most challenging courses that I took was Elementary Finnish
language. There is certainly no requirement to learn Finnish here, but
it is nice to be able to read signs, and newspaper headlines. After a few
months, I was quite confident to order food and tickets in Finnish, but
without learning the language, it is no problem to get along in the community
because most Finnish people understand English and most can speak it very
well.

Outside of classroom study, there was a lot more to university life.
To keep in touch with the rest of the world, there were computer terminal
throughout the university available for everyone to use. I think most students
also surfed on the internet everyday -- especially the international students
-- where they could get access to news, information and research material
for assignments. As soon as you are registered as a student, you are issued
an e-mail account to keep in touch with your family and friends. It is
very easy to read and reply to messages and it saves having to call home
to keep in touch. The computers also offer all of the current software
programs for typing assignments and creating reports. All of this is provided
free.

To learn about the computer use, how to access the library, and how
to find classes, the university has a tutor system. On arrival you are
assigned someone who can help with these things, and then you can maintain
a relationship with them after the orientation week.

Information about the university was sent to me within a few days of
my request. Two months before I arrived in Finland, I had received all
of the current fall information about course offerings and dates. By the
time I arrived in Tampere, I think I knew more about the university than
my tutor.

As a Business student, I am also a member of BOOMI, the Business Students
Association. They have a clubhouse two block from the university campus
where you can go to relax with a free cup of coffee, meet with other business
students, and get involved in all kinds of activities. They held a Finnish
style initiation on the first day I was in Tampere (very safe.) I have
participated in cottage weekends, rock climbing, floor hockey, and educational
workshops, and trips abroad to Sweden, Russia
and Estonia, organised by them. It is a great resource!

As a visa student, you are allowed to work up to 20 hours per week in
Finland. I had a job teaching English conversational skills to Finnish
business people. This also gave me an inside look at how Finnish businesses
operate. It is just one more added bonus of studying in Finland.

If you are thinking of going to Tampere, feel free to write to me at
my address or by e-mail. I would be glad to answer any questions you have.